Truffle Hunting In Italy

I’ve just returned from 3 weeks in Italy (plus a quick jump over to Athens…more on that later), and I have so many amazing things to share. This was my first international trip since covid snarled my plans in 2020, and I certainly made up for lost time!

But the first thing I want to tell y’all about is something near and dear to my heart: truffles!

These tasty little fungi can be found in many parts of Italy, but my truffle hunting adventure took place just outside of Rome, near Lake Bracciano. The trip was organized by Matteo of Matteo Truffles and makes a great day trip from Rome. With a little pre-planning, it could also be done as a shore excursion from Civittaveccia.

We started the day by meeting Matteo and his truffle dog Uzi at the train station. Uzi is a Lagotto - an Italian breed known for its truffle hunting abilities. By random luck, my group was joined that day by an American gal working in Rome who brought along her new Lagotto puppy, Aspen. Twice the adorableness!

The pups didn’t quite know what to make of the horses roaming around!

Once we got to the woods, Uzi and Aspen quickly got to work finding truffles. Since it was mid-March, we were mostly after winter white truffles, though they did find some black truffles too. The day was beautiful, and being out in nature made a welcome break from the craziness of Rome. After about 2 hours we had a bag full of truffles (and let me tell you - you haven’t smelled truffles til you’ve stuck your face in a bag of them!), and headed to Matteo’s house for the next part of our adventure — eating them!

The face of a successful truffle-huntress

Alright where to begin with this meal?! Imagine the most rich, decadent dish you’ve ever had - then imagine EVERY course is like that. We had cheese with truffles, risotto with truffles, farm fresh egg with truffles, ANOTHER kind of cheese with truffles. It would have been too much except there was this amazing wine made by Matteo’s dad there to cut the richness. Then Matteo broke out the Amaro and a Sicilian berry-liquor called mirto. Throw in his truffle dogs running around, a cozy crackling fire, great conversation, and you’ve got the recipe for a truly perfect afternoon. I almost didn’t want to get on the train back to Rome!

Want to do some truffle hunting of your own on your next trip to Italy? Contact me to get started with planning today!